December 15, 1997

A fifteen-year-old student in Stamps (Lafayette County) conducted an ambush-style attack on a school, firing upon students from a nearby wooded area. This attack perhaps inspired two students from Westside Middle School near Jonesboro (Craighead County) in their armed ambush on teachers and students on March 24, 1998, which resulted in five dead and ten others injured. The shooters, Andrew Golden and Mitchell Johnson, were arrested and prosecuted for the crime. It is unknown whether Johnson or Golden had any knowledge of the details of the attack in Stamps, but the similarity and timing is remarkable.